strongholdrising

by Lisanne Norman

  “The order came from a higher level, didn’t it? Who?”

  “Master Rhyaz.”

  Kaid’s voice was icy. “He hasn’t the right. Our En’Shalla status supersedes any but Master Lijou’s orders.”

  “I don’t intend to argue protocol with you here, Kaid. Better Kusac had a seizure than he attacked the Primes or attempted to destroy Haven and plunged Shola into a war we cannot win. He’s hiding something behind those shields of his, we know that much. Why else would he have them? And we need to know what.”

  “Don’t give me that! His shields are natural, no different from those he had before the Primes took us!”

  “Except now he has no Talent! He should be as transparent as a window! Dammit, Kaid,” he said, exasperated. “He did what only a few rogue telepaths have ever done— killed, using only the power of his mind! We all felt it when he linked into the telepathic web Carrie built at the hostage exchange! There’s something alien, not Sholan, or even Human, about him now! If he’d done this six months ago on Shola, he’d have been designated a rogue Talent and you’d likely have been sent to destroy him!”

  He watched Kaid very obviously bite back his immediate reply. They both knew the alien quality was due to the filaments that had embedded themselves in Kusac’s brain.

  “When you’ve had your official inquiry into what happened to Kusac, leave him to us and the telepath medics back home,” said Kaid coldly. “Mark me well, L’Seuli, I will not tolerate any further interference. It’s because of him we have leverage over the Primes and it will not go down well back home if anything should happen to any of our Triad. And you can tell Rhyaz that!”

  Stronghold, the same day

  Lijou had been with Rhyaz when the call from Vriuzu came in, otherwise he’d not have heard anything till later— much later. He suppressed his anger as he listened to Vriuzu give his report to Rhyaz.

  “I sensed an anger and a violence within him that should not exist in one brought up as a telepath,” he was saying.

  “Did he react with anger to your probe?” he asked Vriuzu abruptly.

  Startled, Vriuzu turned his head, trying to see him on his comm screen. “No, Father, but I could feel it…”

  Lijou let his disgust be heard. “You violated his mental privacy, I’m not surprised he was angry! That he concealed it at all is a credit to his training, considering what he’s been through. How else did he react to your probe?”

  “He seemed to be in great pain, Father. Then Liegena Carrie interfered.”

  “How?” he asked sharply. “What did she do?”

  “She blocked me, making it impossible for me to reach Kusac’s mind, then set up a feedback from him to me so I experienced his pain,” he said angrily. “Where did she learn to do that? I thought it was a technique only used by the ablest of our Truthsayers and medics.”

  Lijou smiled inwardly. Vriuzu had suffered no more than he deserved. To forcibly scan one so recently released from torture was a betrayal of everything Vartra’s Priesthood stood for. And for Rhyaz to summarily commandeer one of his priests for such a task without asking him first went beyond the bounds of acceptable practice! He would have words with Rhyaz about this later, strong words.

  “But I know he was concealing something, Father! I felt it in that instant before the pain hit me!”

  “Supposition and conjecture!” Lijou snorted. “You’d have us believe his shields were so strong you had to force a contact, yet you managed to penetrate them as the pain hit you? I think not. And you wonder he felt anger toward you for causing him this distress and agony?” He stopped abruptly as he felt Rhyaz’ hand close on his knee, claws extending warningly.

  “Where is Kusac now?” asked Master Rhyaz.

  “He’s in the sick bay, eating. Doctor Zayshul examined his wound and said we could proceed with the debriefing after he’d eaten. Carrie has T’Chebbi, Rezac, and Jeran helping her guard him from us! I’m lucky she let me out to contact you!”

  “Conduct the debriefing normally, Vriuzu. Leave the rest to us. We’ll look into it further when they return to Shola.”

  When the screen went blank, Lijou turned on him. “You had no right to set Vriuzu— one of my priests— on Kusac! You’ve overstepped your area of responsibility, Rhyaz! When did I ever interfere in your realm of operations? The En’Shallans are mine! My priests, my concern, my responsibility! How dare you have Kusac’s person violated in this way! Hasn’t he suffered enough?”

  “Peace, Lijou. I’ve achieved what I wanted,” said Rhyaz. “I didn’t expect to be able to probe his mind but Kaid and Carrie will guard him so closely that should there be any secondary programming, he won’t get the opportunity to cause any harm either to the treaty or Haven.”

  Stunned, Lijou watched Rhyaz get to his feet and walk over to the hot plate for a mug of c’shar.

  “You put Kusac through a forced mental contact in his condition, risked triggering a seizure, just to have him guarded by his own people?”

  “Can you imagine the outcry from his Triad partners and friends if I’d put guards on him?” Rhyaz asked, spooning the sweetener into his mug. “This way, though Kaid will still be angry, he’ll have no option but to do what I want.”

  “I had the matter in hand! Thanks to you, they’ll have lost their trust in me!”

  “I doubt it, Lijou. They know the orders came from me, not you.”

  Lijou got to his feet, his rumble of anger filling the room. “Next time, consult me before you take matters concerning my priests into your own hands! I could have achieved the same outcome without any ill feelings!” He stormed out of Rhyaz’ office, tail flicking angrily beneath his black priest’s robe.

  CHAPTER 2

  Haven, Zhal-Zhalwae, 22nd day (May)

  “TROUBLE,” observed Manesh, jerking her head toward the approaching figure of Giyesh. “Looks like Jeran’s been talking to her.”

  Sheeowl looked up, taking in their young comm operator’s bushed-out mane of black hair and her lashing tail. “I did it in her best interests,” she said defensively, watching the Sholan Brothers and Sisters in the crowded mess hurriedly parting to let her through. “The rest of you can back me up on that.”

  “No,” said Manesh, the security officer, unequivocally. “I told you to keep your nose out from the first. You got her riled, you can deal with it. I’ll only interfere if it comes to blows, and then only so the Sholans don’t have to get involved.”

  “Same here,” agreed Nayash. “They needed each other on the Prime ship, and they obviously want it to continue. Why make more of it than that?”

  Giyesh stormed over to their table, and stopped, hands on hips, glowering down at the engineer. “You had no right to go running to Jeran with scare stories, Sheeowl,” she snarled, tail flicking angrily. “How d’you think that made me look?”

  “We were only thinking of you, taiban,” said Sheeowl calmly. “Sit down, let’s talk this over quietly.”

  “The time for that was before you went to Jeran! And that’s another thing! Stop calling me taiban! I’m not a child, dammit! If I was, we’d not be having this conversation!”

  “Did he offer?” interrupted Mrowbay.

  She rounded on the medic. “What option did you leave him? Yes, he did, and I refused! You think I want a contract with him under these circumstances?” she asked scornfully. “How could I accept, knowing he’d asked because of your interference? You ruined it for me!”

  “You fool!” exclaimed Sheeowl. “This is serious, Giyesh, not something your mother can sweep into a corner. This’ll affect the rest of your life!”

  “You think I care?” Giyesh swung back to her, leaning forward and placing her hands on the table. Her mouth widened, displaying her teeth in a humorless smile. “I have now with him, and that’s enough. I don’t have a burning need to mate and increase the Family! Who knows? In a year, I may ask to work on a Sholan ship. I can pursue a career with them. For the first time, I have an acceptable option. I only came t
o warn you and Mrowbay to stay out of my affairs from now on, or take the consequences.” She pushed herself upright and stalked off.

  “You should have respected her decision not to tell him,” said Sayuk quietly. “Captain Tirak did.”

  “Shut up,” snarled Sheeowl. “It never occurred to me that she’d be stupid enough to refuse him.”

  “It should have,” said Mrowbay. “She’s strong-willed, just like her mother. A real Rryuk. The Matriarch won’t be pleased, though. I should never have agreed to talk to her.” He shook his head sadly and reached for a cookie on the plate in front of him.

  Sheeowl slapped his hand away. “Leave it,” she snapped. “Giyesh is right, you’re getting fat.”

  He looked hurt as he tucked his hands beneath the table out of her reach. “Don’t take it out on me,” he said. “It wasn’t my fault it turned out the wrong way.”

  “You agreed I was right at the time!”

  “You’re both wrong,” said Nayash, leaning back in his seat. “I think the Matriarch will be pleased Giyesh was able to attach Jeran and bring him to Home. It’ll add to our status, not only on the Council, but among our military allies. We Rryuks made First Contact with the Sholans, and now we’re bringing one of them back, one bound to us alone. And as for mating contracts, I think that the Matriarch will make sure that it’s considered a mere technicality that Giyesh and Jeran aren’t formally mated. There’ll be more than a few males willing to measure themselves against Jeran, prove they’re better than a Sholan. I think she’ll have her pick of the males in our allied families— if she wants a mate at all considering what she’s just said.”

  “You could be right,” agreed Manesh. “I reckon Jeran’ll not lack for lovers either, should he wish to look elsewhere. Apart from that light pelt of his, he’s almost indistinguishable from us. It isn’t as if he were really alien, like one of the Sumaan or a Chemerian, or even a Human.”

  “I just hope the Captain isn’t going to want our hides,” said Mrowbay morosely. “If he believes our interference has driven his niece away from any kind of mating with our people, we’ll be in for a hard trip home.”

  “You’re just so damned optimistic these days, aren’t you, Mrowbay?” snapped Sheeowl, getting to her feet. “Well, I’m not sitting around waiting for Captain Tirak to come and yell at me over this. I’m going down to the Profit now. I’ve got work to do, and so have the rest of you if we’re going to leave on schedule tomorrow.”

  *

  The debriefing had been a long process, taking several hours for Vriuzu’s questions to slowly draw the details of his captivity from him. But he’d not told the telepath everything. He’d managed to keep one or two incidents, like his night with Zayshul, locked deep away.

  The experience had been intensely painful, and he’d been glad that he’d refused to allow Carrie or T’Chebbi to remain. Rezac had stayed with him, keeping a watch on Vriuzu and encouraging him when the memories became too painful to describe. He felt drained and exhausted, unable to even look Rezac in the eyes.

  When it was over, wearing the fresh black robe Carrie had fetched for him, he let himself be led from the sick bay to a private bedroom nearby. Glad though he was to be leaving there, after the quietness of the sick bay, the noise and bustle of the corridors was almost too much for him. When loud voices, followed by the sound of running feet broke out, he began to panic.

  Two small white shapes streaked around the corner, heading straight toward him, obviously closely pursued by several people.

  “What the hell?” began Rezac, instantly hauling him to one side as he reached for his gun.

  Unable to stop in time, the lead figure collided with T’Chebbi, almost knocking her to the ground. As the others rounded the corner, they managed to dodge aside at the last moment.

  “Hi, Carrie, Kusac. The jeggets, where did they go?” demanded Brynne, sliding to a stop on the stone floor.

  “They didn’t,” said Jeran, looking down the corridor behind him. “They’re still around here somewhere.”

  “Sorry, T’Chebbi,” said the other male Human as he untangled himself from her. “Belle and Scamp suddenly decided to go run-about.” Now upright, Kris reached out to help her straighten her jacket.

  She batted his hands away, frowning at him. “Haven no place for animals. No business bringing them here in first place,” she grumbled, returning her gun to its holster.

  “Had no choice. You know I took him with me to Jalna,” Kris replied, crouching down to look along the floor.

  As Rezac released him and put his gun away, he leaned against the wall, trying to gather his wits together after the shock of the encounter.

  “Hello, Kusac,” said Brynne quietly, abandoning his search. “It’s good to see you in the flesh at last. How’re you feeling?” He extended his hand, palm up, in the telepath’s greeting.

  He looked at Brynne mutely, knowing he should respond but unable to do so.

  “It’s all right, I understand.” Brynne withdrew his hand, clasping him briefly on the shoulder instead. “Must be a hell of a shock after what you’ve been through to suddenly have us descending on you like this.” Brynne glanced down at Kris. “You can stop looking, Kris, I found them.” He turned back to Kusac, mouth widening in a grin. “Seems our jeggets have taken a fancy to you, Kusac. They’re hiding behind your robes.”

  Pressing himself back against the wall, he stared wide-eyed at the Human. J’koshuk had shown his teeth in the same way when he’d smiled. He shuddered, remembering what the Valtegan’s smile had meant. Anger, quickly suppressed, flared briefly. Dammit, why was he so afraid of something as simple as a Human’s smile?

  Brynne’s smile vanished instantly and he turned his head to glance uncertainly at Carrie.

  Stooping, she pushed aside the hem of Kusac’s robe. “They’re here,” she confirmed, reaching behind him.

  As she stood up, he got a momentary glimpse of white fur, a pair of tiny, shining black eyes and a pink, whiskered nose. The creature began struggling, and as it leaped free, Carrie let out an exclamation of surprise.

  Instinctively, he grabbed for it, finding himself eye to eye with the jegget. A twist, and it escaped his grasp to scramble up onto his shoulder, dive under his hair and wind itself round the back of his neck, chittering gently.

  “Sorry, Kusac,” said Brynne, reaching out for her. “She’s quite tame.”

  The creature’s long tail began to snake round his neck and tighten. Putting his hand up to stop her, he was surprised by the softness of her pelt.

  “Belle, don’t do that,” said Brynne. “Come on, girl. Time to come back.”

  “I don’t think she wants to,” he said, finding his voice as the small, pointed head pushed insistently against his hand, nosing it away from her tail.

  “I see you’ve found one of them at least.”

  The unfamiliar voice drew his attention away from the jegget.

  A pair of gray eyes, set in a round face framed by a mane of multicolored tabby hair regarded him steadily. “You must be Kusac. I’m Keeza,” she said, leaning against Brynne.

  He watched the way Brynne’s arm went round her waist and how the Human’s body automatically moved to accommodate hers. Then he noticed the broad silver bracelets they both wore on their wrists. Life-bonded? Brynne had life-bonded with a Sholan female?

  “Kusac, could I get Scamp?” asked Kris from where he still crouched on the floor.

  Holding onto Belle with one hand, Kusac bent down and searched beneath his robe for the other jegget. Grasping him by the scruff, he pulled him out and passed him over to Kris. As he stood up, he tried to unwind Belle’s tail from his throat. She’d have none of it and snaked round to the back of his neck, tail well out of reach, chittering even more loudly.

  “She seems to want to stay with you. Perhaps you should keep her for a little while,” Brynne said. “She’s rather special: a gift from Vartra.”

  Vartra? What had the God to do with jeggets? He gave up
trying to remove her and glanced back at Brynne.

  “Carrie can— call me— on her comm when you’ve had enough of her,” he heard Brynne say.

  He gave the barest of nods, more aware of the feel of tiny paws on his neck and shoulders than of what the Human was saying.

  As the two Humans and Keeza began to move away, Carrie took hold of his arm.

  “Let’s get you settled in our room,” she said, gently tugging him on again.

  *

  Later that afternoon, when T’Chebbi came to relieve him from guarding Kusac, Rezac made his way to the rec room where he knew Kaid was waiting for him. During Kusac’s debriefing, he’d been able to piece together a timetable of events. Now Kaid wanted to be updated. Though the rec was busy, somehow Kaid had managed to ensure they had a table to themselves.

  Kaid sat silently, listening while Rezac told him the details.

  “So Carrie was moved from cryo to one of their stasis units as early as four days after the Primes took us,” he said, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard. “And Kusac? When did you say he was awakened?”

  “Fourteen days later, when they implanted him— four days before you and Carrie were reunited,” Rezac said quietly. “When Vriuzu finished the debriefing, while Kusac was recovering, I took the opportunity to speak privately to Doctor Zayshul. She said given what they knew about Leska links, she was sure the timing was significant, that your bond to Carrie had been growing since they’d taken her out of cryo. When she began to weaken after they operated on her, they had to put her in a reduced stasis field. It’s looking more and more like the implant wasn’t needed at all and that Chy’qui’s story of Kusac’s seizures was a lie so he could experiment on the two of them. Then you became the jegget in his barn when it became obvious that every time they took Carrie out of stasis, you collapsed in agony.”

  “Initially Chy’qui may have lied,” agreed Kaid. “But we know Kusac’s had at least two seizures. Unless Doctor Zayshul…?”